BOSTON — Three state legislators are challenging a Registry of Motor Vehicle consolidation plan that envisions closing as many as 18 registry offices around the state, including branches in Milford and Southbridge.

State Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford, and Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, said the modernization plan aimed at reducing wait times and lowering costs by closing offices and diverting more business to online transactions, was recently criticized by unions that would be affected by the plan.

They said the Milford office is one of the busiest and closing it could mean long drives to other registry branches for their constituents.

Rep. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, said he is part of the group of legislators who are adamantly opposed to the plan and will fight this effort. He also said that Southbridge is no stranger to losing its RMV. The Southbridge office was moved to the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton in August 2009 because of budget cuts, before returning to the Casaubon Senior Center in Southbridge in September 2010.

The new consolidation plan, which RMV Registrar Rachel Kaprielian called preliminary, identified a number of offices that could be closed including branches in Attleboro, Brockton, Chicopee, Danvers, Easthampton, Fall River, Greenfield, Lawrence, Milford, Natick, North Adams, Plymouth, Revere, Roslindale, Southbridge, Taunton, Watertown, and Wilmington.

"Branch closures or new openings are not imminent," said Sara Lavoie, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. "This is a concept that is years away from reality. It was presented to the Board of Directors on July 17 and it was well-received and further analysis will be done on the regionalization concept."

The MassDOT document outlining the plan encourages the registry to consolidate its current 30 community offices into 16 regional centers.

"We anticipate that a lot more traffic will be diverted to technological means online and at kiosks that maybe will not just be located in RMVs but around other government buildings and at other entities," Ms. Kaprielian told the House Bonding Committee Tuesday during a review of state transportation funding.

She said about one million transactions have been taken out of branches every year by auto dealers and she said increasing use of online services would mean fewer branch offices would be needed in the future.

"We are looking more down the road as to what we are going to look like down the road in the future and part of that vision includes fewer brick and mortar buildings and more transactions online," she said.

"This may be an appropriate direction, but the registry has not made its case to legislators and the public," Mr. Moore said.

"It's a bit of putting the cart before the horse since it would have been better to educate legislators and the public on the costs and benefits of the current versus the proposed system, before deciding where to close offices."

Ms. Kaprielian said the branches identified for possible closure in the study were among those that did not meet criteria for future registry operations, which include convenient geographic location, proximity to public transit and buses, and the availability of fiber optic telecom lines.

Mr. Moore said he is in favor of cutting wait times at the registry, but not making people drive farther to get to a branch.

"Increasing the travel time to get to the registry by another half hour, hour, or more, and increasing the number of people seeking services at a 'regional' office that serves a larger area, doesn't seem to make any sense," Mr. Moore said.

"I hope the registrar will meet with legislators and the public before any possible closings are implemented."

Mr. Durant said he agrees with MassDOT's goal of shortening wait times, but said their solution makes absolutely no sense. "If you want to reduce wait times, you don't cut branches," he said. Mr. Durant said Southbridge is generally a lower-income community so residents might not be able to travel to RMVs farther away, for services they rightly deserve.

"Milford is one the busiest, most attended registries in Massachusetts," Mr. Fernandes said, adding he wants to meet with Ms. Kaprielian at the office to discuss it.

The lawmakers said Milford area residents and businesses may have to travel to Worcester or Framingham registry offices to do business.

"When Milford was closed a few years ago during the Romney administration, local residents had to go to Attleboro for service," Mr. Moore said.

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